Sleepy town

The guesthouse I’m staying in overlooks a tributary of the Mekong River, which actually has a pretty swift current. The sound of the water is so peaceful and is punctuated occasionally by the sound of roosters crowing. Those things seem to go all day and night.

My traveling companions rented bikes today to check out the waterfall outside of town, but I decided to stroll through the streets and get acquainted with the new city. There’s nothing I love more than happening onto some random alleyway; you never know what you’ll find at the end of it. There are plenty of alleyways in Luang Prubang - lots of great images to be captured. The traffic here is pretty light, which is a nice change from most of the cities I’ve been in so far, and I’m having to get back into the habit of looking left when I cross the road, instead of right, as they drive on the same side as we do in the U.S.

I anticipate my time here being pretty relaxing. The nice thing about having an open schedule is you don’t have to run around trying to see this temple or that statue; you can take your time. And honestly even if you don’t see those things, that’s okay too. The point of this trip is to take time to reflect and enjoy the moment. And if that means sitting in a café or wandering aimlessly for hours, then so be it.

I noticed a disturbing trend at the night market tonight. Almost all of the vendors are women, but many of them look very, very young. Granted, no one in Asia looks their age, but there are definitely kids working. My first thought is, Isn't it a school night? But the literacy rate in Laos is pretty low, so it's likely that these kids don't go to school. So do you buy something from one of these girls, thereby supporting this trend? Hmm...


One of the many golden Buddhas at one of the many temples. The temples here seem a little bit cooler somehow, maybe because they feel a little more weathered.


My walk led me to this one shop where the owner’s dog had just given birth to these puppies 9 days ago. Adorable.